“Seongheon-hyung!”
Following the voice, Seongheon shifted his gaze and let out an involuntary chuckle. His cousin, Hyun-wook, was peeking through the doorway with a grin, and Seongheon found himself smiling in response.
“Hyung. Are you busy?”
“What is this? When did you get here?”
Seongheon rose from his seat. Only then did Hyun-wook step into the office, his laughter deepening.
“Just arrived. I thought about heading straight to Domyeongjae, but I wanted to see you first.”
“You should’ve called if you were coming. Arriving without a word.”
“Wouldn’t it ruin the surprise of seeing that look on your face? I like that you’re happy to see me.”
As Hyun-wook bantered, Seongheon tapped him on the shoulder and settled onto the sofa.
Twenty-nine-year-old Hyun-wook was the son of Nam Tae-jin, the president of Seoryang Construction and Seongheon’s uncle.
Seongheon and Hyun-wook maintained a solid relationship. They didn’t see each other often, but it was an undeniable fact that Hyun-wook had shadowed Seongheon since they were children.
As Hyun-wook sat on the sofa, a secretary brought him a drink. After downing the orange juice in a few gulps, Hyun-wook let out a long sigh.
“Ah, it’s nice to come out here, even if it’s for work.”
“What’s so nice about a dusty construction site?”
“Why, it’s cool. A space filled with the fierce sweat and heat of men. Tsk, a place gathered with people who have ‘real’ muscles—completely different from the ones sculpted in the gym. I like it.”
“Then come and work here.”
“No, thank you.”
Seongheon stared at him, casting a pointed look at Hyun-wook’s blunt refusal. Hyun-wook feigned ignorance and scratched his neck.
Hyun-wook was rare among the Nam family for his easy sociability. As if he had perfectly inherited the fate of his father—a man said to have the soul of an immortal—Hyun-wook lived a life far removed from the family business.
He spent his time crafting furniture in a private workshop. When he grew tired of that, he would pack a camera and head off on a whim.
A life without envy, a free soul. That was who Hyun-wook was.
“Hyung. You should work a little slower, too. You should at least take it easy when you’re away from my dad.”
Seongheon parted his lips slightly to retort.
“I think the one who works slowly when we’re apart is your father, not me.”
“Ah. Right. That’s true. My dad goes out to play golf every day now. He’s incredibly diligent when it comes to that. He’s someone who loves his morning sleep, yet he goes out at dawn, you know?”
As Hyun-wook spilled the details like a tattletale, Seongheon sipped his tea. Though he was the president of a construction company, Hyun-wook knew his father’s capacity all too well.
His father habitually claimed, ‘Our company is kept alive by Seongheon, not me,’ and took pride in that fact, even calling himself Seongheon’s ‘figurehead president.’
“Honestly, is being a figurehead president something to be so proud of? No wonder Mom never has anything nice to say to him.”
Hyun-wook shuddered at the thought of the father he was embarrassed to show anyone.
“No matter how I think about it, you should’ve been my father’s son, Hyung. Dad said he was going to buy deer antler extract for you because he was worried about your health.”
“Please, I’m begging you, tell him not to do such useless and futile things.”
“Anyway, he’s on edge, worried that you might collapse. Why worry about your health while making you work this much? He’s my father, but he’s truly immature.”
“I’m serving him comfortably precisely because he is an immature man. If your father had possessed enough maturity to match that personality, I would’ve cut ties with him ages ago.”
Seongheon expressed his desire for Hyun-wook not to mind, and Hyun-wook smiled softly. He found it amazing that his cousin could serve such an immature father without a single complaint. Having to fight with his dad whenever their eyes met, he couldn’t help but view his cousin as a saint.
He couldn’t mimic that even if he were born again. Having quickly admitted this, Hyun-wook shook his head.
“Hyung. I don’t think I could ever live like you. How can a person just work every day? There are so many fun and good things in the world.”
“Indeed. There are many fun and good things in the world. So many that I don’t know where to start.”
“Whaaat. You don’t know? Just give me your time, Hyung. I’ll show you everything in style. You just need to give me your time.”
“Really? Then do you want to work at the company for me?”
“……No?”
“I need to have time to do something, too. In style. So come to the company; I’ll give you a seat.”
“No? I’m fine, actually. Shall we pretend the last part of the conversation never happened?”
When Hyun-wook looked serious, insisting that could never happen, Seongheon let out a chuckle. Hyun-wook laughed along and tapped the table.
“Hyung. What time do you get off work?”
Seongheon lifted his sleeve to check the time.
“One hour.”
“At most?”
“At least.”
Hmmm. Hyun-wook made a face full of dissatisfaction at Seongheon not leaving immediately, but he quickly nodded. He couldn’t exactly demand he leave work right away after showing up uninvited.
“Then work, Hyung. I’ll just look at my phone.”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Seongheon stood up. As he headed back to his desk, he glanced back and asked Hyun-wook.
“How long are you staying at Domyeongjae?”
“Me? Well. I came without much thought. A week? Ten days? Or until you’re there?”
At Hyun-wook’s vague answer, Seongheon let out a short breath and sat down.
“Hyung. Should I wait outside if I’m bothering you?”
“Just breathe without talking like you are now. That will be enough.”
“Yes, sir!”
Since he had to finish his work within the hour, Seongheon moved diligently, setting his gaze back on the monitor.
*
Although she had started the work with grand ambitions, Yeonwoo grew exhausted from the workload that never seemed to diminish. Having received the task without a detailed explanation, she had no way of knowing if her method was correct. In the middle of it, she had sought out Eun-ja to ask for confirmation, but the only response she got was:
‘If I were going to check it every step of the way, I would’ve just done it myself. Why would I have assigned it to you? Figure it out yourself.’
Yeonwoo, having taken the tableware out of the warehouse and filled a bamboo basket to the brim, brought it outside. As she carried and set it down, a groan escaped her lips before she could stop it. She couldn’t even tell how many times she had repeated this; she began to wonder why all these dishes were even necessary.
With a soul-drained face, she mechanically lathered the detergent. The stubborn grime wouldn’t wash off easily unless it was soaked first, so there were already ten baskets of soaking dishes. She would never finish today, or tomorrow, or the day after.
Even if she tackled it like a madwoman, it would surely take at least a full week to finish everything stacked inside.
“What are you doing?”
It was just as she reached for the pile of dishes again. Turning her head at the voice from behind, she saw Manager Moon Ok-rye.
Yeonwoo stood up reflexively. Her stiff legs betrayed her, and she staggered.
“I was washing the dishes.”
Manager Moon’s expression, watching Yeonwoo stagger, was thoroughly displeased. With her lips turned down, she scanned the surroundings.
It was a cool afternoon as the sun began to set.
“You’ve been doing this all day long?”
Yeonwoo scanned the area and looked back at Manager Moon.
“Is there something else you want me to do?”
“What about food? I didn’t see you at meal times.”
Since she didn’t know at what time or where they ate, Yeonwoo had starved all day. She had thought about contacting Ja-young, a friend of her mother’s, but she had no cell phone, and Ja-young was off today.
As Yeonwoo remained silent, Manager Moon let out a clicking sound with her tongue.
“Is that walkie-talkie just a prop? You should’ve called when it was meal time. Do you wear that just to exercise your waist? Who’s going to look after you? You have to feed yourself.”
Yeonwoo stayed silent. She had considered explaining that she had lost track of time because she wanted to finish the work quickly, but she gave up. Manager Moon’s expression was too stern, and her rough tone made it even harder to speak.
“If you don’t want to be measured for your shroud tomorrow, just wrap it up and call it a day.”
“Then what should I do now?”
As Yeonwoo took off her rubber gloves, Manager Moon looked appalled. She had expected a request for rest, but since Yeonwoo asked to keep working, she wondered what kind of person this was.
Thinking she should tell her to get some rest since she would have to stand night watch after the staff left, Manager Moon lifted her chin and spoke.
“The Managing Director is getting off work, so go sweep Unseondang like yesterday. Ventilate it.”
“Yes. I understand.”
Yeonwoo tidied up the area without a word and stepped away. Watching her, Manager Moon shook her head and muttered.
“A tough one has arrived. Tough, very tough.”
But as Eun-ja had said, how many days would she last? The more tenaciously one held on, the faster they usually ended up falling.
‘Should I set up another interview day?’ Manager Moon thought for a moment.
It seemed likely that Yeonwoo would quit sooner than expected.
*
Seongheon returned to Domyeongjae, leaving work with Hyun-wook. While heading toward Unseondang via the main building, Hyun-wook added this and that.
“Nothing here ever changes. Even the old woman Moon is the same every time I come.”
Hyun-wook pointed to a tree with a thick trunk.
“Hyung. Do you remember? In the past, when I climbed up there, you would always help me down.”
Instead of answering, Seongheon parted his lips with a faint smile.
“You must have come to Domyeongjae in a long time, too.”
“Well, it hasn’t been *that* long. I like it here. Maybe because I attended middle school here, but for some reason, my heart feels at ease whenever I come to Domyeongjae.”
As if to prove it, Hyun-wook let out a sigh. The sound of his exhale was comfortable, and Seongheon moved forward in time with Hyun-wook, whose pace had slowed.
The path to Unseondang. The backs of the cousins walking side by side appeared quite affectionate. Seongheon in a sharp suit and Hyun-wook in a comfortable hoodie—whoever saw them would immediately recognize them as brothers, the image of a gentlemanly older brother and a less mature younger brother standing out clearly.
“……Huh?”
It was the moment when the roof tiles of Unseondang, laid with such care one by one, came into view. Hyun-wook, who had been walking with Seongheon while talking incessantly, stopped in his tracks.
Seongheon, who stopped behind him, turned to look at Hyun-wook.
“Yeon……woo?”
Hyun-wook called out the unfamiliar name as he looked toward the courtyard, and Seongheon’s head turned slowly.
In an instant, many thoughts welled up. It was as if the events of this time yesterday were being reenacted.
In a space that had been ordinary all along, laughably, romance began to tilt.
Sunset time. *Swoosh, swoosh*, the sound of sweeping in the courtyard.
“Ji Yeonwoo? Whoa, no way, it really is Ji Yeonwoo!”
The woman in the questions he had dismissed during his break today as mere trifles looked back. The sunset, gradually turning purple as the sun dipped, served as the background behind her.
As he watched, the boundaries that had covered his pupils loosened.
“Hey! Yeonwoo! Ji Yeonwoo!”
An emotion he had never experienced before surged up.
As if she had been sweeping away fallen flower petals all day, she stood upright amidst the petals piled up like a grave.
As their eyes met, the tips of Seongheon’s fingers twitched. Veins popped on the back of the hand clutching his briefcase, and as her gaze, which had lingered on him, shifted to Hyun-wook, he swallowed a dry gulp.
His heart began to beat wildly and unexpectedly, forcing his breath to deepen. His heart felt heavy—no, it was beating light as if it might fly away.
No, just when he thought it was crumbling and emptying out—
No. That wasn’t it either. It was a nonsensical situation where his heart, filled and swollen without a single hollow space, felt both hot and cold, both searing and chilling at the same time.
“Yeonwoo! It’s me, Hyun-wook!”
It was a feeling for which he couldn’t find his bearings.
Hyun-wook walked quickly, approached her, and reached out for a handshake. Seongheon watched, entranced.
“Yeonwoo, you know me, right? It’s me, Hyun-wook. Nam Hyun-wook. Domyeong Middle School, 3rd grade, Class 2! You remember me, right?”
……Yeonwoo.
“Wow, to think I’d meet Ji Yeonwoo here. Good to see you, friend!”
Yeonwoo.
Ji Yeonwoo.
The name of the woman standing in the middle of a sea of flowers.